The hedgerows were laden with ripe and ripening blackberries when I walked the lanes of Dorset a couple of weeks ago.

 I noticed they were attracting considerable numbers of Red Admiral butterflies. This intrigued me since all the brambles I saw were well passed flowering hence the abundance of fruit.

 On closer inspection I noticed this butterfly's long tongue eating (or perhaps licking?) the surface of the berry. Indeed it was so preoccupied by this activity that I was able to peer right up close and place my camera lens only a foot or so away. Ordinarily butterflies take flight as soon as you approach them- I wonder if they become somewhat intoxicated on the juice of blackberries??